A silver ribbon of a road
threaded through vertical hills
a shallow creek sparkling cold

Rainbow trout caught
with stick and sharpened nail
and fried in flour

Blackberries everywhere
scratches and thorns
and purple fingers

Beds with lumpy pillows
kettle whistling on the primus stove
slippery paper in the outside dunny

Mum cutting kindling
with hatchet and determination
her face red and shining

Dad cursing and swearing
installing the new gas lights
which hissed affectionately

Saturday afternoons
straining to hear the Goons
on the radio which crackled

Daily visit to the General store
with hand petrol pump and
milk in bottles and licorice straps

The band rotunda
with memories of polished brass
before the gold dried up

Torchlight journey through the long tunnel
a tiny circle of light
slowly growing bigger

Exploring the old cemetery
with gumboots full of leeches
and sad inscriptions to little souls

Walhalla - old ghost town
threatened by this year's fires
Thank God you escaped...

Alison Cassidy

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/snapshots-of-walhalla-1950-1960/